Hypertrophy/Cutting log

[Bill Anders]

Thanks for logging these and posting your thoughts on the results, CDR Fun, as it's interesting to see how folks do different things.

With it all said and done, you cut 17.6lbs in these two months, which is great! Other than keeping the main lifts in rotation for your next cut, what other thoughts have you been mulling over during this experiment?

Keep at it!

[CommanderFun]

Thanks for logging these and posting your thoughts on the results, CDR Fun, as it's interesting to see how folks do different things.

With it all said and done, you cut 17.6lbs in these two months, which is great! Other than keeping the main lifts in rotation for your next cut, what other thoughts have you been mulling over during this experiment?

Keep at it!

Well, it does seem like the bodybuilding type training does indeed do a good job of keeping the muscle tissue intact during the cut. I actually lost close to 20 pounds, as the cut technically got its start on January 1st, where I weighed in at 298 in the morning. It's not listed here, but it's in my own record. I also think the bodybuilding type training does have the potential to actually eke out small gains on a cut, since it's designed to be able to progress so slowly. It does also seem to have skewed the weight loss toward fat. In the past a weight drop of this much didn't have much of a visible effect. This time it really did. A lot of this was stuff I got from watching Mike Israetel's videos, he has a lot of information on dieting and training, and strategies for keeping muscle on a cut. I am also finding even though the strength took a hit, it's coming back fast. I was able to add 10 pounds to both the press and bench today over monday's numbers. Tomorrow I get to see if I can add 20 to the earlier squat and deadlift numbers from this week. After that, I will probably slow it down a bit. I'm going to be doing maintenance for about 4 weeks, so I have time to try and get to old numbers (or at least close) at the new lighter bodyweight.

While lower reps on the big lifts took a hit, assistance work that I always did in higher rep ranges seems to be mostly the same as it was. I think having everything basically work higher in reps generally skewed the muscles to adapt to work at those reps. Again, this seems to be changing quickly back to being suited to lower rep work. Don't know if I'll recover all the end of December numbers I had, but today's session was encouraging.

One thing that was strange about this cut was that even though it wasn't as severe as others I've done (I've gone 30+ pounds of weight lost in the past), I started to encounter weird mood and energy issues worse than I have before. I think it might be because of how little dietary fat I was consuming. Israetel has a recommendation of .3 grams per pouind of bodyweight, and I was well below that. There were days I was probably only hitting 20-30 grams.

[CommanderFun]

3/2/2023

Weigh-In: 280

Bench 215x5x3
Strict Press 125x5x3
Lying Triceps Extension 80x10x3
Upright Row 60x10x3

Great I was able to slap a 10 pound jump on monday's numbers. I went down in weight from my last LTE workout to be on the safe side, but I was able to squeeze them all out. I also tried upright rows to see how I liked them for my shoulders. Turns out I really do! I probably don't do them the way a lot of people do, but I prefer a very narrow grip. So no, I'm not teaching myself bad habits for something like cleans. The next time I need a good shoulder hypertrophy exercise I'll turn to these.

[Bill Anders]

Great insights! Thanks for sharing.

I'm still a fair bit lighter than you, but am a touch fluffy, especially during my current maintenance season. But I've never put much thought into doing a cut. But you've got me to thinking...

Thanks again.

Keep at it!

[CommanderFun]

3/3/2023

Weigh-In: 280.2

Squat 245x5x3
Deadlift 335x5
Leg Extension 130x10x3
Pulldown (supine) 200x10,10,5

No more 20 pound jumps for the squat I think. Also, belts come out next week. The deadlifts were still pretty easy.

[CommanderFun]

3/6/2023 MAINTENANCE WEEK 2/4

Weigh-In: 279.8

Bench 220x5x3
Strict Press 130x5x3
Barbell Curl 75x10x3
Upright Row 80x10,7,6

Still going pretty smooth. Belt fit 2 holes tighter than when I last used it in December. Tried the upright rows with a heavier bar than I wanted to, since people are idiots with these little fixed bars and leave them in odd corners of the gym instead of bringing them back. I'll just use the loadable mini-barbell in the future I guess.

[CommanderFun]

3/7/2023

Weigh-In: 280.2

Squat 255x5x3
Deadlift 355x5x3
Leg Press 315x20
Chest Supported Row 250x10,10,8

Squats still went up pretty okay. The belt helped. Did the deadlifts with a double overhand grip, and those went well too. I should keep track of my double overhand PRs, just for shits and giggles.

Tried leg press with a more knee-dominant technique, didn't push the weight too high since I know those squats took a lot outta my legs.

Surprised the rowing was as hard as it was, I wonder if the increasing deadlift is gonna eat into it and prevent progress.

265 squat and 375 deadlift on Friday, we'll see how that goes to determine what jumps happen next.

[CommanderFun]

3/9/2023

Weigh-In: 280.4

Bench 225x5x3
Strict Press 135x5x3
Lying Triceps Extension 90x10,10,7
Upright Row 65x10x3

Shit's getting harder. Feels like getting another pair of 5 pound jumps out of the bench next week is gonna be tough. Pressing I'm definitely going to drop to 2.5 increments. Last rep of each set came out kinda slow today. Got the LTEs back up to my old PR though.

[CommanderFun]

3/10/2023

Weigh-In: 280.4

Tempo Squat 185x5x3
Deadlift 375x5
Pulldown (supine) 200x10,10,6

I've been getting really weird sleep issues the last two days, and headaches during my workouts. Yesterday's workout in particular I felt very sluggish. I decided I'm gonna heavy/light the remaining two weeks, using variations for the light workout. For squats, I tried tempo squats today (2-1-2). Light start as always, but I still felt it. I decided not to pursue the leg extensions since I know I'm gonna be sore in new ways all over the legs soon enough from those.

Finally moved to hook grip on the deadlift. No hint of grind.

Nice to get a rep on the pulldowns. This makes an all time PR for this workout scheme.

[CommanderFun]

3/13/2023 MAINTENANCE WEEK 3/4

Weigh-In: 280.4

Bench 235x5x3
Pause Press 115x5x3
Barbell Curl 80x10,10,8

Bad day today. Got rejected from an actual trainer job that I thought seemed promising. Still managed to get a big bench jump despite feeling defeated, though. Sticking to the theme of lighter variants, I decided to pause the lighter presses today.